Bench thoughts

Well, I’m locked out of e-mail, Internet and the server so I guess it’s time to write a blog post.

It may be August, but it’s cold in the office today, although everyone who has come in from the outside has complained about the heat.

Well, as soon as we went down for some companywide computer work, I took a stroll outside.

There’s a world of difference between what’s happening out there and what’s not happening inside my office.

First of all, it wasn’t all that hot, at least it wasn’t all that humid, so it wasn’t oppressive. I sat on the bench by the ornamental apple tree that was so beautifully in bloom just a few months ago.

It has nothing but green foliage now and those big bumble bees that were so busy there last spring are nowhere to be seen.

Out there are the sounds of street construction, the beeps of large equipment backing up, the pounds and clanks of metal upon metal as the contracted workers finish up projects before the weekend.

Because it’s Friday, the traffic is already backed up on Hwy. 95, and some drivers, growing impatient, make squealing noises as they take the risk to make a left-hand turn from the parking lot.

It’s a world of humming and buzzing and beeping and honking.

An ambulance drives by, perhaps returning from a run, that’s usually why you see them going through town at the normal speed.

Large semi trucks growl as they move through town, I know those drivers are not pleased with having to slow down every 10 feet.

Kids are playing in the park across the street. Oh, to be a kid again.

Some teenagers, pants slipping in that crazy new style, are walking along the sidewalk.

I hear voices, sounding like the adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon, coming from cars as people move through the drive-through at the credit union.

The wind is constant, blowing a warm breeze through my hair and I feel comfortable. The sun on my arthritic body feels wonderful. It’s a good place out there.

There are people and activities and work and play going on just beyond the doors that form the barrier between me and the real world in North Branch today.

This is where I work, no more windows, no Main Street view of the daily life in this town, no fresh air from an open window, or sounds of people carrying on everyday living.

If it weren’t for people like the devoted reader who just stopped by the office, who said she enjoys my columns, and that we put out a good paper, I think I’d go crazy.

Here’s the thing… I thought, as I sat on that bench, that I should take my computer outside on a day like this and write about what’s really happening around us at such a moment in time.